THE EXCITEMENT and DISAPPOINTMENT OF being a Potter fan
All mush and no myth in HP6
Finally its time for all Harry Potter fans , which includes me as well , to rejoice as the 6th installment of the Rowling popular Potter Franchise Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince has released in India .Its time to reenter the film that transports you to a new alien fantasy world which you seem to be so much similar to the real . Just Imagie as Voldermort & his Gang as the Al Qaeeda , trying to take over the world for their selfish needs , The Ministry of Magic as The Bush Administration –takes all the wrong action at the pretence of it being right , Dumbledore , Potter & army signifying the free moderate world who want peace & freedom of expression ( Dumbledore being gay one of them) . Rowling also takes inspirations from Indian Mythology –Voldermort’s 7 horcuxes reminiscent of Ravan’s Ten Head .
Now this is precisely some of the many reason that I m a big fan of Harry Potter as a book , but the movie interpretations of the last 2 books has been a total disappointment in sharp contrast to the brilliance of the first 3 movie interpretations . The first 3 movies i.e. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone , Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets , Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban were brilliant adaptations from the book . I even believe that Azkaban was a better movie than a book . In all the 3 mentioned movies , the emphasis was on more on character building & telling a logical story as well as using the great material that Rowling’s genius has provided . In sharp contrast Yates interpretation in Order Of Phoenix was lame & unstructured emphasizing more on visual grandeur rather than Screenplay formation . It was almost as if the movie is a half baked summary & if you want to know more about the movie read the book without the knowledge of which all you can do is look at the images as a picnic in an unknown dream land .They have become more like David Dhawans genre of movies – leave your brains at home & enjoy . Even the choice of actors in some cases has been disappointing . Ralph Fieenes plays the iconic villain Voldermort whom the wizarding World fears . A character who Rowling must have created imagining a man whose voice & personality conveys fear without trying to act it out , but somehow Ralph doesn’t convince you as he doesn’t suit the role at all .The role should have been played by someone like Alan Rickman, my favourite actor in the movie who plays Severus Snape
Now inspite of the fact that Yates is not a great story teller , he is excellent at visual imagination & the grandeur he provides to the images something that was seen quite clearly in the Order of Phoenix . I would bet that even Rowling must not have imagined such visual beauty to her world of magic while writing those scenes .
So , as a Harry Potter fan here are 9 moments out of the many that I would not like to see missing in the screenplay of the newly released movie . I have not included some of the important ones that like Ron Love & Quidditch Track because I guess they are already there as I saw glimpses of them in the trailer shown in Television Channels Here are the 9 moments :-
1. The film should start off with the death eaters causing a catastrophe – a chance for some great special effects along with the visual grandeur that Yates is superb at .
2. Then we should turn to the conversation between Fudge , Remus & Muggle Prime Minister as this has a great scope(provided good actors are chosen to play it) for many elements . the rare merging of Rowling’s magical world with the real , humour as well backup for the darker things to follow
3. The Slughorn introduction episode is bound to be there , but I hope Dumbledore’s conversation with the Dudleys should be chopped out of the movie as there are great comic elements in it as also is Kreachers entry in the story.
4. Again the comic elements in the Weaslely house , the new daughter -in-law Fleur to be introduced .
5. I hope Yates does not trim any of the Voldermort flashback memory scenes as it provides a great meat to the character of the main villain
6. Harry’s confrontation scene with Remus the new Minister of Magic at Weasly house . the show of revolt against the establishment & his closeness to Dumbledore being depicted here .
7. Harry’s arguments with Mr Weasly & Repus Lupin regarding Snape’s being on Voldermort’s side show Harry’s growing angst against Snape
8. The moment sof Harry’s confusion of Attraction For Ginny & fera of losing Ron as a friend should also be fleshed out here
9. Finally Dumbledore’s grand burial is a piece of writing genius with each & every moment that cane be visually imagined , a true hero’s burial . I just hope Yates can take advantage of it by not trimming the burial at all as it is be a filmmaker ‘s dream film moment .
So , here is my wish list for the new Potter movie . I know there is a time limit where movies need to be finished in under 2 & a half hours , but a Potter Film arrives once in 2 years , so it needs to be the best .I hope I don’t see another half backed Potter film & leave the theatre as a disappointed audience & have to revisit the World of Harry Potter by going back to the book again unsatisfied with the movie interpretation of half Blood Prince
http://pronefilmviews.blogspot.com/
proneet dutta
Dimapur , Nagaland
Tags: "half-blood prince", Harry Potter, yates
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There ain’t gonna be another Potter movie I guess.
There will be two other Harry Potter movies. The Deathly Hallows is split into two parts and will be released in 2010 and 2011.
thanks for commenting on my aricle .ya the deathly hallows will be split may be as the deathly hallows & the last war
A nice little wishlist there. Honestly the way people have been cribbing about the latest movie on PFC makes you feel the book would have been a masterpiece. And FYI, I have read and reread all the books.. I am happy you came up with this article, it tells us that Yates did the best he could with this book and got in most of the good parts.
About the criticism..
1) The ending is being called anti-climactical. I believe the book was a cliffhanger, the movie had to be on similar lines. Downplaying the climax instead of an action packed finale was crucial to show Harry is at his most vulnerable at this point and it worked fine for me.
2) Coming to the little teen love tales, I am with the others. Although each love track had an inherent innocence, Yates did waste a lot of screen time for it. But then again, this is something which is there in the book.
3) A considerable portion of the book which was not shown in the movie is Voldemort’s history as an adult. And it does make sense, it wouldn’t have made any contribution to the central plot. And if there is an explanation or flashing back needed later on, I hope Yates saves it for the remaining movies(we have 2 more!!).
I personally felt this to be the best of the series(as good as the 3rd). The acting was so much better than the previous films with the senior cast members like Gambon,Broadbent,Rickman finally get their due. The plot was comprehensible unlike the 5th installment. And it was certainly the funniest of the series so far, with great visuals as usual.
But in the end, these movies are not about the Action or the funny parts, its about the characters. At its very core we have the relationship between Harry, Hermione and Ron. It is never overstated, but I have felt for them and rooted for their friendship all along. It would be a treat when they walk out hand in hand and face the Dark forces head on in the last part… And from what I have seen, I can’t wait..
the movies have all sucked, with the exception of prisoner of azkaban. they put crap into the movies that never happened in the books, taking up valuable screentime for important plot elements that they keep leaving out. david yates sucks, plain and simple. he’s turned the entire franchise into a tweenie romantic comedy.
since when did the weasleys’ house get set on fire?
why the hell do they keep showing the death eaters flying around like meteors?
i like michael gambon, but the way they wrote dumbledore for the movies keeps getting worse.
i could go on and on…
and honestly Kris, i’m scratching my head as to how you think this was the best movie so far…you say you read the books, but damn the plot has changed so much it doesn’t even resemble the books anymore…
someone hire peter jackson for a remake of all the movies…for god’s sake, they aren’t ‘kids’ books’ like people keep saying. pretty dark and dangerous shit that never happens in winnie the pooh, it just happens to be dark and dangerous shit about a kid growing into a man.
i agree with you nick to a certain extent , anybody who has read the book is bound to be disappointed as Yates has turned Harry into a character with no flesh as such you feel no emotion for radcliffe . He has left so many important things right from the political angle to the beautifil imagery of the Dumbledore burial .even the spark in Harry-ginny’s roamnce is missing thanks to bad writing .